"I treated a client who had recently stopped smoking and was suffering from tightness in the chest. When people stop smoking they can experience a tight chest due to the tension created by the body's need for nicotine and it can also be caused by sore muscles due to coughing..

..part of the recovery process is that of the lungs attempt to remove mucus and tar. I had never treated anyone with this problem before, so I was very interested to see the effects. I knew that Deep Oscillation therapy would help to relax the respiratory muscles and loosen sputum, which would help to relieve the tightness and promote deeper breathing. After treating the chest area for just five minutes my client said he could feel the tightness disappear, I continued to treat for a further 15 minutes. After the session, my client said he felt that he could take a deep breath again and he felt no tightness at all."

Julie Soroczyn, MD, PhysioPod UK Limited

For help and advice on quitting smoking - please visit: http://www.nhs.uk/smokefree